Migrant hawker

A cracking day! After an early morning bath to soothe my aching limbs I had the choice of going to Sainsbury's or walking the dogs in the morning sunshine. Well, what would you have done? I decided to neglect my maternal responsibilities, eschew the crowds and head off to Holme Fen.

It was a perfect late summer morning. The small glade of heather was in full bloom, scenting the air with it s perfume, and humming gently from the many visiting bees and hoverflies. Above me, a swarm of dragonflies hawked to and fro, their wings sparkling in the sunshine. I tried to photograph them in flight but it was a thankless task. Eventually I found a favoured resting place in an oak tree on the edge of the glade and captured this beauty. And to cap it all we gathered a bag full of luscious, plump blackberries and two bags of wild plums, such a soft purple with a velvety bloom.

In the afternoon Chris and I went to Dogsthorpe Star Pit to do a stonewort survey of some ponds dug out a few years ago. Initially they'd supported a good array of stoneworts, including bearded stonewort. Unfortunately succession has been rapid and they are now mostly heavily shaded by reed with only a few rather common stoneworts found so far. While we were working, a bittern flew over, the first that Chris had ever seen and the first that I'd seen flying. Such excitement!! And Chris was even fast enough to get a pretty decent record shot!

A less welcome find was three Turkish crayfish in one of the ponds. This non-native species was previously known from the site and probably originated from a release by an aquarist. A few years ago, trapping was carried out in an effort to eradicate this species from the site, but this has clearly not worked, and is probably unlikely to, as the site is very large and complex.